News Releases

Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart Presents Musical Interpretation of the Universe at the Smithsonian

“Rhythms of the Universe” To Be Screened Sept. 29

September 19, 2013

What does the Universe sound like? Grammy Award-winning Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart set out to find the answer by converting light and electromagnetic waves, collected throughout the universe, into music. On Sunday, Sept. 29, he will be joined by 2006 Nobel laureate George Smoot at a special screening of their film, Rhythms of the Universe, at 8 p.m. at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

After the screening, Hart and Smoot will discuss their passion for music, physics and their search for resonances in the universe in a talk moderated by Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture. Audience members can then visit the Explore the Universe gallery and stargaze at the Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory (weather permitting). Rhythms of the Universe and this program are funded by the Lounsbery Foundation. All attendees will receive a copy of Hart’s CD, Mysterium Tremendum. Reservations are free, but tickets are required. For more information on how to reserve tickets to this multisensory experience, the public can visit the museum’s website.

The National Air and Space Museumbuilding on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is located at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W. The museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Va., near Washington Dulles International Airport. Attendance at both buildings combined was 8 million in 2012, making it the most visited museum in America. The museum’s research, collections, exhibitions and programs focus on aeronautical history, space history and planetary studies. Both buildings are open from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. every day (closed Dec. 25).